The Quest of Sir Kurogane
by flo-bizet
Summary: Sir Kurogane is sent out on a quest to rescue a princess for his princess. What trials await him as he comes across a boy yielding a ladle, his noble bunny steed, a confused gypsy girl, and a mage most annoying yet sexy? And we can't forget the witch!
1. The Quest

**Date Written:** June 10, 2007

**WARNINGS!** There aren't really any significant warnings aside from shonen-ai and this fic being crack and to non avid users of the substance, this might be damaging to your mind. Crack is whack. However, I don't really think mine are all that extreme, so I wouldn't worry.

**ALSO!** I'm sure some of you are like, "Wait, isn't this just like 'The Sisters CLAMP: Tsubasa Edition!'?" Similar, but not the same at all. This is an entire story of my own creation, and it actually is more along the lines of myth since I'm going by the heroic journey, which I hate but it works here.

**A/N:** This will probably be my first Tsubasa fic that has an actual ending. I mean, there is "Is this my Wonderland?" but I've been thinking of deleting that, just 'cause it's now dull to me. It was okay, but since there's really no action in it, it's hard to go back and update it. So boring! I can write angst, there just has to be some huge plot going on in the back (I have a lot of original stories like that). But yeah, this will be my first that HAS an ending and I will probably finish! Yays!

**Hope you enjoy!**

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Once, in a land far, far away, there lived a young, hot knight who had an unquenchable thirst for blood. Some say it was because he knew nothing else about life due to his traumatic childhood. Others that his standards were too high when it came to relationships so he let out all of his sexual frustrations in battle. Either way, it worried the princess of the land greatly and she spent many a long nights desperately searching for a way to stop this needless killing. It wasn't until she let her mind wander aimlessly one day that she found the perfect solution that would benefit everyone most wonderfully.

"Kurogane," the princess, Tomoyo, began in the royal hall of order, "among the thousands of knights under my reign, you are my most trusted. And so it is with great honor I bestow upon you a quest of immense importance, the likes of which could easily turn the bravest of knights to jelly at the mere thought. Are you, brave sir, prepared for such a task?"

"Just tell me what it is already," Sir Kurogane answered.

"I'll take that as a yes. You are to go to the farthest reaches of the world and bring me back… a princess. Oh, and you have to rescue her." The lords and ladies of the court were in shock that the princess should assign such a daunting task to this barbaric knight.

"…What?" Sir Kurogane said, after a moment of reflection on his most honored mission.

"I'm sure you're in shock as to why I would assign such a daunting task to that of a barbaric knight as yourself."

"No, I'm wondering why you need a princess when you are a princess!"

"It is because I know that beneath your disturbing lust for blood and killing anybody that comes within twenty feet of me-"

"Hey, that royal clock changer had it comin'!"

"- is a heart that just yearns for adventure. And seeing how you aren't getting enough of such a thing, I shall send you on this long and strenuous journey to perhaps ease your incredibly wrong appetite for gore."

"What if it just grows?" After serving princess Tomoyo for more than half of his young life, Sir Kurogane had long ago figured out that it was best to just humor the girl most of the time.

"Oh, that won't happen! And there is always the possibility that you shall find a maiden most fair and swap your passion for killing for a passion for sex. Everyone in the court knows you desperately need it."

"I'll ignore that comment because I'm still wondering why the hell you need a princess! You got Souma!"

"Yes, I do! And I just love her so much!" Her lady in waiting, Souma, tried to hide her blush with a small laugh. "However, I am not allowed to make her princess clothes because she is not a princess. Oh, the angst of royalty!"

"Wait, you just want to make some girl princess clothes?! That's why you're sending me off on some damn 'quest'?!"

"Yes. Good bye, Sir Kurogane! I hope to see you again bearing a princess!" After her moving farewell, Princess Tomoyo pulled the nearby rope and the trap door beneath Sir Kurogane opened to begin his quest, which started with him wrestling a few alligators. On his way down, he could have sworn he heard a faint laughter along the lines of, "Oh ho ho ho!"

And so, after escaping the jaws of beasts most vile, thy daring knight set out on his most perilous pursuit of rescuing an unknown princess from an unknown evil in an unknown land. Not even a noble steed to accompany thee, thy brave hero is to surely face dangers of unimaginable terror, though mere insects to a warrior so powerful. Though, perhaps this is to be not be a journey of finding a princess for his princess, but to maybe find one's own heart?

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**1.)** Boring and short first chapter, but it's a prologue. It will get better, I promise!

**A/N:** The plot bunnies won't leave me alone. -_throws one out window_- I'm not complaining too much, but geez! I want to update my other stories, not create new ones that I'll have to update! I've resisted a few, but this and "Cloud Nine" just had to be posted. Darn confusing Tsubasa chapters sparking my imagination! -_shakes fist with a plot bunny hanging off of it_- Besides, there are too many angst fics out right now. Not enough crack and not NEARLY enough yaoi smexin' goin' on!

**QUESTION!** Can somebody help me with my ye olde English? I would love to have at least the last or first paragraph of each chapter have it, but I couldn't find a site that had some words. I can do it if I think about it for an hour (which I didn't here, by the way -_sweat drop_-), but I don't want to do that every time I write a chapter. Much appreciation!

You know what to do!

Please leave a review!

As always, CONSTRUCTIVE criticism is welcomed with Flowrite twins! Group sigh!


	2. A Squire and Steed

**Date Written:** June 18, 2007

**Summary:** Sir Kurogane meets his first traveling companion/adoring fan. And his rabbit steed thing.

**Flo:** Surprised how much people liked the first chapter. Still thought it was boring.

**Kurogane:** It was.

**Flo:** -_goes to dark corner_-

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We find our brave hero in the middle of some inner turmoil. Should he obey his princess' commands as he vowed to always do, or go back and tell that crazy girl his exact feelings on this little "adventure." Of course he wanted to go with the second part, but if he were to say his exact feelings to Princess Tomoyo, they would most likely be said in front of the entire court. And the entire court consisted of stuffy men and women in frills and petticoats who would frown upon such fowl language to his princess. Not that he really cared, but when you came down to it, Sir Kurogane had better things to do than listen to a bunch of pansies who know nothing of the real world whisper/tell him to his face that he should be ashamed and how dare he speak to their princess like that and blah blah blah, he was about to kill someone. So if he put it in a different perspective, going on this journey saved the lives of many lords and ladies. But that didn't mean he was less pissed about it.

"Find a princess," Sir Kurogane was muttering, with the occasional scoff at the end of each sentence. "Why'd she bug me with such a stupid 'mission?' I bet this is all some scam that that bastard, Lancelot, came up with and he tricked Princess Tomoyo into going along with. That asshole was always trying to out do me! I'll have to teach him a lesson when I get back." (1)

Sir Kurogane kept grumbling about different ways to kill that jerk off, Lancelot, as he made his way down some road, making sure to make the ground know how mad he was by stomping on it. Poor ground.

It was about high noon when the knight was seeing less and less of an actual point to this and was also wondering if he was going down the correct road. He didn't see any signs to lead him to where some princess was being held captive or something, so he wasn't entirely sure what he was supposed to do. Finding a princess never seemed this hard compared to those stories he was forced to read to Princess Tomoyo when she was younger. What was clear, however, was that Sir Kurogane couldn't just sit there and wait for a princess, no matter how much he wanted to. So he reluctantly trudged on and up a hill in order to avoid some crazy old man selling "magic beans" further down that road.

Sir Kurogane had to pause and reflect on what he saw when he reached the top of the hill. There, stumbling around a tree, was some kid in a bunch of pots and pans for some make shift armor and wielding a ladle. There was also what Sir Kurogane assumed to be a rabbit hopping around the kid's feet, as if it were going to catch him when he finally fell. Apparently, something happened where his helmet (or "pot" as most normal people referred to it as) had fallen down slightly and was now covering his eyes. Even worse, his shoulder pads (also known as pans) were preventing his arms from reaching his head to push the pot, I mean helmet, up.

Head must have been too small, Sir Kurogane thought.

Setting such a sight aside, he continued forward and stopped when the kid stumbled in front of him. Normally, the man would have just shoved him aside. But this time, an odd and unfamiliar feeling of immense pity fell upon his heart, causing him to grab the pot head to steady him and take it off.

The kid winced at the sun light making Sir Kurogane wonder exactly how long he had that thing on. He was just about to leave when the kid finally saw him. With a yelp of surprise, he took a step back and started to panic. Nothing new for the knight, Princess Tomoyo and Lady Souma never forgot to remind him that he would make babies cry with his scary face.

"Uh, uh, uh," the kid was saying/gasping.

"What?" Sir Kurogane said to stop the annoying sounds.

"I'm, uh, thank you, sir!" He quickly bowed after that. Sir Kurogane just looked at him. The thank you was nice, but was there really a need to bow? The kid looked like he was about to have a heart attack, as well. Perhaps it was best to just grunt his approval and leave.

That was the plan, and he was about to do it if it weren't for a rabbit flying into his face, latching on with a killer death grip. It was then Sir Kurogane stumbling around the hill, blind, as the kid looked on, confused. Thankfully, he got his wits back pretty quickly and yanked the white abomination off his him before he suffocated. The kid was even polite afterwards by offering to get him some water, even though he was promptly refused.

"I-I'm really sorry, sir!" he was saying. "You see, Mokona is just a little excited because he can talk now!"

He didn't want to, but Sir Kurogane found himself giving into asking it. "What?"

"Mokona can talk!" it said, successfully freaking Sir Kurogane out. It continued to do so as it hopped on top of his head. "Mokona used to be a horse, but this witch put a curse on me and Syaoran-kun!"

"How so?" Sir Kurogane asked, again against his better judgment.

"Well," the kid, Syaoran, began, "I was sent out to explore new land in order to expand my kingdom's territory. Eventually, I came across the witch, Yuuko's, land without knowing it, and when she caught us, she turned my sword into a ladle and my horse into a strange rabbit… that talks. Now we're trying to find her again in order to find a way to reverse the curse."  
"It's not a curse for Mokona, it's a blessing!" the thing exclaimed, jumping up and down on Sir Kurogane's head and finally getting thrown off. In his opinion, the witch was trying to torture the kid by making the thing talk.

"What about your armor?" Sir Kurogane just couldn't help himself with that one.

"Um, it got rusty when she threw us into the swamp, so I had to use this."

Damn, this kid is sad, Sir Kurogane thought. "Right. Well, good luck with that territory thing."

Sir Kurogane was starting to go down the hill when a thought hit him. The kid was trying to find that witch again, one who was apparently evil. Evil witches normally enjoyed causing panic to kingdoms by doing something with a princess, preferably a pretty one. Therefore, if he were to travel with the kid, he would be lead to a witch who might actually be harboring a princess.

Quickly turning back around, Sir Kurogane shouted at the kid, "How are you going to fight the witch with a ladle?!"

"I-I don't know, sir!" he answered. "Truth be told, I only had the sword with me to begin with in order to hunt!"

Now that was just wrong. Taking only three long strides back towards him, Sir Kurogane towered over the boy. "If you carry a sword, you use it to protect what is important to you. Not as a meat cleaver!"

"I'm so sorry, sir!" The kid resembled a rabbit more than the thing that kept talking.

"Syaoran-kun was never taught how to use a sword," Mokona piped up. "He was a researcher at the palace, not a knight. Even though he secretly wants to be one!" At that comment, the kid actually blushed.

Whoever was watching over them must have felt sorry for Sir Kurogane in order for him to have this much luck. "How about I train you?" he offered.

"You, you would do that?!" Syaoran said, extreme gratitude oozing off of his face (he looked like he was about to cry).

"Sure, why not? You just have to lead me to this witch, and on the way we'll get a proper sword… You have any money?"

"No." By the looks of his suddenly downcast face, Sir Kurogane guessed that he now felt guilty for disappointing him. Well, at least the kid appeared loyal and good at taking directions.

"We can make money!" Mokona cheered. "We can put on a show! Except for the scary knight, he'd frighten all of the people away!"

"What was that?!"

"Mokona was joking!" Syaoran said, putting himself between the two. "Um, we haven't properly introduced each other, have we, sir?" Sir Kurogane grunted as he tore his glare away from the puff ball. "I'm Syaoran… a-and you, sir?"

"Kurogane."

And so, with a new squire and steed in tow, Sir Kurogane made great haste with his quest, now in search of the witch, Yuuko. What treachery has this evil being planned for our heroes? And shall it lead them to Sir Kurogane's goal of retrieving a fair princess? God, he hopes so.

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**1.)** I only liked Lancelot in "Monty Python and the Holy Grail." I hated having to study him. He just never came off as great as the teacher was trying to make him out to be. He seemed like a jerk, basically causing the fall of Camelot 'cause he was horny!

**2.)** (side note) I got inspired to write this after reading elenath's, I think, lj cousinship (holy crap, my word processor is changing "cousinship" to "cousinship"!). She drew the absolute hottest Kurogane EVER and in a knight costume, and so I just HAD to write a fic with Kurogane as a knight! Though, the way she drew Fai is not how he shall be depicted here. Go check it out!

**A/N:** And there was chapter two. Can you guess who's next to join Sir Kurogane's merry band of travelers?

**Thank you to angelofplottwists for starting to give me lessons on Elizabethan English (though, I sadly couldn't find a place to properly use what (s)he has currently taught me for this chapter)!**


	3. The Gypsy Girl

**Date Written:** September 3, 2007

**Flo:** Finally got inspiration for this… along with nearly all of my Tsubasa fics… awesome, except I got work all week until Friday… ah, I'll find a way! And has it REALLY been a month since I updated this thing? Huh. Hopefully, the next chapter will be up sooner than that. You never know, though, so cross your fingers!

**WARNINGS!** None, except extremity of personalities… wow, I think that this will be the shortest author notes I've done in quite a while… weird.

**Hope you enjoy!**

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Sir Kurogane had many a times ventured into the small town of Jade, but this time seemed to be taking a lot longer. Maybe it was because he was on foot. Maybe it was because of the rabbit thing jumping around non stop. Or maybe it was because the kid had refused to take off his make-shift armor and tripped every five steps, then tossed around like a turtle stuck on it's back until Sir Kurogane hauled him back onto his feet. Whatever it was, he couldn't remember the last time he was so thankful to enter Jade.

For the majority of the trek there (he had taken time out to explain what he was doing and how much he loathed it), had it not been for the kid at least trying to calm down his so-called horse, Sir Kurogane honestly thought that he would have bitten it's head off a long time ago. Of course, he wasn't sure where the skull connected to the spine on the thing, so he didn't know how he'd go about doing such a task. Running it through with a sword would be much quicker, he eventually decided after much deliberation on the subject. He was bored and one's mind tends to wonder when you're simply walking on a road with barely a cart passing by. He was actually thankful when they caught sight of the familiar town. For one, there would be other distractions for the stupid rabbit, and for another, he now had a good idea where to go from there. He'd think about how horrible it was that he was making a plan for this ridiculous "adventure," the kid and rabbit had taken to calling it.

Upon entering, he got the normal response every time he went through a familiar town, which only surprised the kid. The rabbit?

"The Black Knight's fearful reputation and face proceeds him!"

Sadly, it was pretty much the truth. Women hiding their children and shutting windows and doors, while the men desperately tried to not show their knees shaking and hold their ground as a pathetic attempt at protecting their town. Really, they acted as though he were their enemy. And yet freakin' Sir Lancelot was praised with flowers, food, maidens, and money. God, he hated that guy. The differences between their greetings to towns had never annoyed Sir Kurogane before, though. In fact, he was thankful people feared him and left him alone. He had better things to do. However, now, when he actually needed those things (minus the flowers and maidens), he was beginning to get rather frustrated. It would have made everything so much easier. Not to mention prevent the oncoming head ache caused by his immense pissed off-ness.

"Excuse me, Sir Knight?" a young girl suddenly said, walking up to Sir Kurogane out of nowhere. He looked down to see that the girl appeared to be a gypsy by the way she was dressed, which made sense as to why she was actually approaching him. She wasn't from around there and therefore had no idea she was supposed to be scared.

"What is it?" Sir Kurogane answered. Apparently, it was harsher than he intended it to be, because she shrunk away slightly with a squeak.

"Um, well, you see, I'm, uh, sort of traveling and, uh, uh, uh-"

"Spit it out!" Again, too harsh.

"Willyoupleasebuythisflowerortwoinorderformetobuysomebreadbutifyoudon'twantothenI'll-!"

"Shut up."

"I'm sorry!"

If the kid had looked like a kicked puppy, than this girl looked like a kitten that had just gotten a bucket of water poured on her. Sir Kurogane found it strange how he kept running into kids all of a sudden. Suspicious, even.

"Um, hello there," the kid suddenly spoke up from behind him. It was probably for the best, Sir Kurogane mused. They looked to be about the same age. "My name is Syaoran. And-"

"I am Mokona!" the rabbit announced, proceeding to jump into the girl's arms.

"How cute!" she said. She appeared to have recovered from shock awfully quickly. Odd how she was scared of Sir Kurogane, yet when approached by a talking white thing, she thought nothing of it. He didn't think to ponder what that said about him. "My name is Sakura." She curtseyed at that. "I'm a traveling gypsy… I think."

The kid turned concerned. "Why is that?"

"Well, I'm not sure, really."

Oh boy, Sir Kurogane thought. Here we go.

"The last thing I remember was waking up in a strange swamp. A lady there told me that she had taken my memories for revenge because of something my family did. She didn't say what, so I don't know what to do. I've been traveling around ever since, trying to find someone who might know me or my family."

The look on her face made Sir Kurogane's insides churn with again with that unfamiliar feeling of pity. He'd been experiencing a lot of that lately. He'd have to make sure to stop by a doctor or something.

"That's so sad," the rabbit said, it's ears flopping down, then almost instantly popping right back up. "I know! You can travel with us!"

"M-Mokona!" the kid shouted. He kept looking worriedly between Sir Kurogane and the gypsy girl, clearly panicked by the rabbit's intrusion of leadership.

At least he knows who's in charge, Sir Kurogane thought.

"That would be wonderful!" the girl said. "B-But, only if it's okay with Sir Knight. I wouldn't want to be a burden, after all, if you aren't able to have anyone else join you on your quest… um, that is if you are on a quest… Are you?"

"Yeah," Sir Kurogane grunted.

"Really?!" He didn't even have to look down to know that the girl was probably wide eyed with curiosity. "That's so wonderful! Is it a quest to save a damsel in distress?! Like a princess?!"

That was eerie. "Yeah."

"You must be the bravest knight of them all to take on such a daring quest! How exciting! It's just like in the stories!"

"And Sakura can come join us, too!" the rabbit butted in to the kid's horror. "We can't rescue a princess if the Black Knight is the one rescuing her! His scary face will frighten her into the arms of the enemy!"

"What did you just say?!" Sir Kurogane proceeded to prove his terrifying reputation by chasing the rabbit around the market place, while unintentionally resembling an ogre and scaring the men into hiding with the women and children.

Once it went hiding under one of the kid's shoulder pans, he decided that that was enough and that he shouldn't waste his time with such stupid games. He was a grown man, and a knight at that. He shouldn't let his temper go so easily. It was uncivilized. Not that he cared. That was more of what he was told whenever he acted out of order.

"So where are you three going?" the girl continued to the kid.

"I'm showing Sir Kurogane where the witch of the swamp is, and in exchange, he's made me his squire!" Sir Kurogane was surprised that the kid didn't puff up in chest at that. "You know, the witch that I ran into actually might be the same lady who took your memories. If you want, I could confront her for you and try to retrieve them for you."

Okay, the kid was starting to complicate things.

"Oh, I couldn't ask that of you! You two already have too much to do! I'll be fine, don't worry. I've already gotten along quite well! Why, just yesterday I won a drawing for fifty gold coins so I should be fine for quite some time."

That got Sir Kurogane's attention. "Fifty?!" he said in shock.

"Yes!" The girl reached behind for her sack and opened it up to show them it was filled with gold, just as she had said.

Sir Kurogane was very tempted to have her travel with them solely to have the money, but that was wrong. He wasn't about to take advantage of a little girl who seemed oblivious to the world. You could tell just by looking at her green eyes that she thought that there was a bit of good in everyone. Plus, she just showed them all of that money without think that they might steal it, or anyone who had overheard her, for that matter. The poor, delusional thing. So with a heavy sigh, Sir Kurogane began to walk away without a single word, the kid making a panicked noise and running after him, only to stop halfway and look back at the girl.

Sir Kurogane stopped as well and looked back at the kid, waiting for him to get his ass over there already. He was about to command him to do so, when he saw the way he was looking at the girl. He looked remorseful that he was leaving her and torn between her and Sir Kurogane. One was for obvious loyalty, the other was most likely infatuation. Of course, they would probably argue that it was love at first sight, or whatever they wanted to tell themselves to make it sound better and not as dirty. That was what Sir Kurogane thought, at least.

Suddenly, a horrible idea occurred to him. What if, when he finds a princess, she doesn't shut the hell up and talks to him non stop? If that were so, she'd be dead before they got back to Princess Tomoyo and she'd send him back out again, and the pattern could possibly repeat itself. That wouldn't do. That rabbit was already getting on his nerves. There was no way in hell he'd be able to stand a second talkative person. However, if there was someone, perferably another girl, for the princess to talk to, then it would ease the stress. As an added bonus, the rabbit might want to hang aroung the girl instead of bug Sir Kurogane. It wouldn't be that big of a thing to bring her along if she wanted. She seemed like a hard worker. But they had to get going.

Sir Kurogane growled before barking, "Come on, already!"

At that, the kid took one last look at the girl and smiled as he said, "It was nice to meet you, Lady Sakura."

The girl smiled back and said, "You too, Sir Syaoran. Maybe our paths will cross again someday?"

"I would like that very much."

"What are you two going on about?" Sir Kurogane asked while he approached the pair.

"Um, we were merely saying our good byes, sir," the kid explained. It appeared he thought he had done something wrong.

"What for?"

"I'm sorry, sir, I don't understand what you mean."

"I mean there's no point in saying good bye to each other when you're going to be traveling together. Or are you against this new arrangement?"

The kid and girl stared at Sir Kurogane like little chipmunks until both seemed to get what he meant. The kid thanked him a thousand times while the girl took a more direct approach and actually hugged him, saying, "Thank you for your kindness, Sir Knight! I'll do my best not to be a burden to you in your quest!"

The hug was a new sensation for Sir Kurogane. It arose an immediate reaction to shove whatever was touching him the hell away, then gave way to the common sense that this was an oblivious girl who didn't know any better. So he stood there like a statue before she let him go with a ridiculously sugary sweet smile directed at him. It helped that she looked about Princess Tomoyo's age.

"The Black Knight is a just a big softy!" the rabbit said while peeking out from the kid's armor.

"I'll ignore that because I am better than that and have more important things to take care of," Sir Kurogane announced. "Like getting you a proper sword, kid."

"A sword?" the girl echoed. Sir Kurogane mentally prayed that that wouldn't be a common occurrence.

"Yeah," the kid said. "Mine was turned into a ladle." His face turned a bright red after that, making Sir Kurogane wonder why the hell he was more embarrassed telling a girl that than a guy who would easily beat the crap out of him and was almost twice his size.

Teenagers, he thought with annoyance. In retrospect, it probably wasn't the best idea to invite two hormonal kids to tag along. Well, he was getting closer to his goal. Which was awesome since he had just started having a goal that same morning.

"I've never been to a sword store before!" the girl continued as they walked through the town. "At least, I don't think I have." Again, Sir Kurogane wondered if that would be a common occurrence.

It wasn't long before they saw a blacksmith's. A sanctuary, if you will, that was sure to ease all of Sir Kurogane's troubles and send him to a much more relaxed and happy place. Plus, the blacksmith was actually knowledgeable about his trade (many a times had Sir Kurogane come across a complete idiot, or worse… an apprentice) and was able to quickly pick out a pre-made sword for his squire. Said squire took the sword with some speech about how he will use it to protect what is precious to him and all of that, which was fine and dandy to Sir Kurogane. He'd rather have a responsible squire than a psychotic one. He simple didn't wish to hear it. Again, there were more important things. Speaking of which…

"Hey, old man," he began while the girl paid for the sword and the kid desperately tried to tell her that she didn't have to (which made the knight wonder what he was thinking of paying for it with). "You know anywhere I can rescue some princess?"

"Ah, on a quest for love, I see?" the old man said.

Sir Kurogane growled. "Not exactly."

The old man scratched his chin for a while before snapping his fingers. "I know! There's an old castle up on a mountain just outside of town! There's a dragon there and everything, so there's gotta be a princess there. Or a least a fair maiden who you'll be bond to fall in love with at first sight! That is, unless the good Sir Knight, Lancelot, hasn't already been there. He comes through here quite often. Do you know him?"

Lo, did Sir Kurogane recite a verse of curses most fowl, the likes of which the young squire and fair gypsy's virgin ears had never once been subject to. The rabbit had, indeed, heard such language and merely chuckled at this display. Yet, what lay ahead for this merry band of travelers? Could it be adventure? Or a maiden most fair? Perchance, true love for our bold knight? Thou shall find out in the next edition of "The Quest of Sir Kurogane!"

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**1.)** Here's the link to the doujinshi I was talking about last chapter (and I forgot to change "cousinship" to "doujinshi" once I save it onto my profile last chapter! I finally put it in my word dictionary, though): http:// elenath -.deviantart. com/art/ TRC- Doujinshi- pg6- 53704528

(take out the spacing, of course) Enjoy! She's an AMAZING artist!

**A/N:** Who is this maiden most fair that may lay in the castle upon a mountain? I'll give you three guesses. In the meantime, I'm debating whether or not to get a livejournal. Any opinions on the matter?

You know what to do!

Please leave a review!

As always, CONSTRUCTIVE criticism is welcomed with a map to the castle on the mountain! May not have a maiden, though.


	4. The Maiden! Already?

**Date Written:** September 5, 2007

**Flo:** And now for the idea that first came to me and evolved into this entire story! Woot!

**WARNINGS!** Here's where we get some shonen-ai… though, I don't think that there's much of anything to worry about since the majority of people reading this are, I assume, shonen-ai fans for the most part… wow, another short author's note! I must be talking too much at my job and running out of things to say in these things! Unlikely, though.

**Hope you enjoy!**

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It was probably around the eighth time the kid fell down a few steps from the mountain that Sir Kurogane realized he wasn't properly prepared to fight a dragon. True, he had his "armor" and crap, but as for it providing actual protection… let's just say that he would be able to defeat a bunny rabbit in it. And no, that did not include their rabbit, who was currently taunting Sir Kurogane at the top of the steps. He decided he was the bigger man in this and ignored it since it was only natural that the rabbit should arrive first. I mean, it could hop ten steps at a time. Divide that by over five hundred steps, and we got ourselves arriving at the top in about one hundred hops, give or take a few steps. However, such mathematics are beside the plot of what is happening.

Our hero had taken on the challenge of the mountain, and the castle, and the dragon in order to rescue the supposed princess, who he was informed was most likely in the highest tower, if she should so be there at all which she damn well should be or else Sir Kurogane would be super pissed and she'd pay for it. And yes, he was well aware that that threat did not make any sense, so back off!

Anyway, it was obvious that the kid wanted to protect his new found love, but when he had only gotten his sword half an hour ago and with his armor causing him to fall so much, the girl was actually protecting him from tumbling to his doom. Sir Kurogane felt a bit sorry for the boy.

Therefore, he told them to go back down the mountain where it was safe. When the two protested, he resisted glaring and threatening and opted for… logic.

"Look, it's obvious that you're not yet prepared to fight with your sword, kid, and the gypsy girl is just barely aware of her surroundings," he said. "I don't want to have to rescue more than the supposed princess, ya' got that?"

The two looked down, disappointed that they couldn't join him to somehow help, but then the rabbit came back down and shouted, "And Syaoran can have some love love time alone with Sakura!"

Sir Kurogane took advantage of their embarrassed teenage paralysis to continue up the mountain alone. Which was the biggest bitch. He could not figure out why anybody would want to build a huge castle on the top of an even more huge mountain. How do they get food up there? Even more curious, what does a dragon need a castle for, anyway? Same thing goes with why do they guard treasures? They certainly weren't going to buy anything with the gold and jewels. Maybe it was to buy the castle. Or perhaps a shiny quality that attracted them. That made sense. But that leads us back to why they needed castles. Castles weren't normally shiny, though if Princess Tomoyo had her way, she would probably border her castle in sequins.

Before he knew it, Sir Kurogane was standing at the gates of the castle (it's amazing how time flies when you're mentally ranting). Lucky for him, this wasn't a volcano so there wasn't some rickety bridge he had to cross. If so, then he would have been royally pissed off faster than you can say, "Where the hell is the dragon?!"

Which was what he said.

You would think that once you have entered the main territory that a dragon was occupying, it would immediately sense you and swoop down to either barbeque you or at least swallow you whole. But nay. No dragon appeared as Sir Kurogane made his way into the castle and up the first flight of steps he saw. Nor when he kicked down a few doors causing some weird domino type reaction and the noise echoed through the entire place. Not even when he purposely squashed a lizard in hopes it was the thing's kid. Okay, he felt slightly bad about that one, but it was actually a total accident.

"I should have brought that rabbit for bate," he muttered as he reached the top of the tallest tower in record time (it's amazing how fast things go when you have nothing to kill that takes actual effort).

Noting that there was light coming from under the door, Sir Kurogane safely assumed that this was the place where the princess was being held. It was a strange phenomenon that Tomoyo had once mentioned. Something about their beauty radiating light. He really didn't care, though.

He swiftly kicked down the door and was relieved to see someone inside. Completely alone and not a rival in sight. The only problem was that they were lying motionless on the bed complete with a bouquet of flowers to compliment her beauty… Which Sir Kurogane certainly did not notice at all for he was all business. Yup.

Sir Kurogane punched the wall at this. Most likely scenario was that the bitch was asleep and he had to wake her up with a kiss. He ran the idea of simply carrying her around, still asleep, on the way back to the castle and letting some other guy do it. Hell, Tomoyo could do it, she was the one who wanted a princess after all! But what a pain in the ass would that be?

No, Sir Kurogane would have to do the honors. With a curse and an irritated sigh, he made his way over to where the fair maiden was sleeping on the bed without anyone around to guard her. Why, who knew? Certainly not Sir Kurogane seeing how he didn't give a rat's ass aside from that meaning he didn't have anyone to fight which seriously sucked. He needed to relieve some stress!

That thought lead back to the discussion Tomoyo had had with him before sending him away. You know, the one about sexual frustration? The knight quickly shook away that memory and ignored his blush that did not exist in the slightest bit.

Turning to her face, Sir Kurogane had to admit that this princess was, in fact, very beautiful. Her skin was pale and perfect, her hair was a striking blonde, even if it was a bit short, and with her lips slightly parted like that, he had to admit that the thought of kissing her wasn't too bad. Ignoring all of this and the excitement building in his stomach, he bent down by the bedside and leaned over, pausing once, before brushing his lips over hers.

They were warm and inviting, making him realize that the kiss was already lasting too long. A simple peck was fine from what he understood, but it had already lasted a few seconds. Before he was about to pull away, however, he suddenly felt arms snake around his neck and pull him closer, crushing his and the princess' lips together in a more passion filled kiss. Sir Kurogane's eyes snapped open, and he quickly pushed himself up, only to have the princess come with him, mouths still somehow connected like some sort of magnet.

He growled and took the girl's shoulders, yanking her away before that tongue could go any further. He was just about to yell something at her, but he immediately forgot what once he was met with a pair of beautiful, ice blue eyes. They were hypnotic and had him completely lost for words. That is, until the princess laughed in his face. Probably at the dumbfounded expression he had on.

"What?!" Sir Kurogane roared, his voice echoing throughout the castle. Again, where was that dragon?

The girl continued to laugh, until she wiped a few tears from her eyes. "Your face, Mr. Knight, is quite funny," she said.

"There is nothing funny about my face, damnit!"

"Yes there is! It's so mean and scary looking. I take it you are not able to rescue many damsels in distress?"

"I can, but I don't like it! They're usually clingy afterward and their helplessness annoys the hell out of me. Although, I like that a lot better than having a princess who won't stop laughing at me!"

That got her to shut up. In fact, it wiped the smile clear off of her face. Sadly, it was only replaced by a huge grin that practically screamed no good was going to come from what she was about to say. "Did you just say I'm a princess?" she asked, eyes gleaming with mischief.

Sir Kurogane hesitated for a while before saying, "Yeah?"

The girl looked to be trying desperately to hold back her laughter as she turned her eyes to her legs. Sir Kurogane looked down as well, wondering what the hell was going on, when she kicked away part of her dress to reveal she was wearing pants.

Time seemed to stop there.

She wasn't wearing a dress…

She was wearing a long robe with pants…

Which girls don't wear…

Which meant…

The guy suddenly fell back onto the bed, laughing hysterically, legs kicking up as he held his stomach and tears flowed from his eyes.

"It's not funny, damn you!" Sir Kurogane shouted. He only got more laughter in response.

Furious, he got off of the bed and headed for the door, ready to leave the idiot behind with the dragon or, more preferably, to laugh himself to death. He was stopped however, by two arms snaking around his waist.

"Wait!" the guy said as he slithered around to the front of Sir Kurogane. He wasn't laughing, which was an improvement, but still. "I need to repay you!"

"What for?" Sir Kurogane asked, trying to pry the arms off. If only he had known to get a crowbar at that black smith's.

"You woke me up! You see, those flowers were what I was coming here for. I was told to get them and bring them to the swamp witch in exchange for my wish, but I didn't realize that their pollen put you to sleep. Obviously, that was what happened and you were the one who came and rescued me from an eternity of slumber!" The arms tightened around his waist, coming very close to cutting off his oxygen supply. "So now I must repay you for your bravery, Sir Knight! Is there any kind of favor you want of me?"

The coy way the man was looking up at him with those big blue eyes half lidded made Sir Kurogane's mind go whirling into a place he only dreamed off. And those times were on accident! Before he knew it, his cheeks were burning up with merely the idea of thinking such things. Besides, he only thought the guy was a girl so that didn't mean that the guy swung that way! Though, there was that kiss…

"Whoo hoo," he was saying while waving a hand in from of Sir Kurogane's face. "What are you thinking, you naughty knight?"

Sir Kurogane jumped and shoved him away. "I wasn't thinking what you were thinking, that's for sure!"

"Hm, that depends. What do you think I was thinking?"

"Perverted things!"

"I wasn't, actually. I was wondering how long I've been asleep and if my apprentice was okay."

Sir Kurogane's eyes widened and all he could think was, Change the freakin' subject, quick! "Um, a-apprentice?"

"Yes! I'm a wizard, ya' know! Oh, I just realized we haven't introduced ourselves yet! I'm Fay D. Flourite. And you?"

"Kurogane."

"It's very nice to meet you, then. And thank you for rescuing me. For your brave task, I present you with this humble offering." Fay reached in his pocket and pulled out a handkerchief with blue embroidering and held it out to Sir Kurogane. When he didn't take it and only stared at it, Fay waved it around a bit, as if trying to get a dog's attention. He even began to add little, "come on, you can get it!" comments to annoy him further. He was successful, as Sir Kurogane furiously grabbed it and stuffed it into… well, he realized there wasn't much of anywhere to put something in a suit of armor and instead tied it to his arm.

Fay, meanwhile, chuckled.

"What?" Sir Kurogane asked again.

"Nothing," Fay said. "So… where are you going to whisk me away to?"

"Who said anything about that?!"

"Well, it only makes sense. I was going to the swamp witch, but it's nothing terribly important."

It was easy. Too easy. Unbelievably easy! All Sir Kurogane had to do was run as far away from this guy as possible and not mention at all that he was also going to the swamp witch. However, something told him that that wasn't what he should do. It appeared that he was stuck with him, just like he had somehow stuck himself to the kid, the girl, and that rabbit.

He didn't like it, but a voice in the back of his head was nearly screaming to not let this Fay guy go. It sounded suspiciously like Tomoyo's voice.

So with a sigh, Sir Kurogane said, "Me and some others are going to the swamp witch's place, too… Don't just stand there! Come on!"

Not wanting to waste anymore time, Sir Kurogane grabbed Fay's arm and pulled him down the steps, trying to ignore the chuckling.

"You seem rather upset about something," Fay said.

"Of course I am! I was this close to getting a damn princess but instead got some mage!"

"So Sir Kuro-tan's on a quest to get a princess?"

"Yeah, I… WHAT THE HELL DID YOU JUST CALL ME?!"

As the two frolicked throughout the castle joyously, Sir Kurogane could only pray that his journey would somehow end soon and without any more additions to this band of travelers. With a mage now joining them, shall their journey be one of joy or sorrow?

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**A/N:** What I like about this is that I am somehow able to write a good chapter in one sitting. Strange. And I usually end up not liking it, waiting more than a month (as one can see in the above "Date Written" note), coming back and going, "okay, this is good!" I'm quite pleased with it. And once my art skills improve, I shall draw it into a doujinshi! XD

Oh, and I have indeed gotten a live journal. It's under the same name as this. Not much there as of now, but I am part of the KuroFai community and have a few one shots there, plus a new story. I'd post them on here, but I hate posting one shots here for some reason. I'm weird, I know.


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